


protect the people (that are precious to you)

by LiveLaughLovex



Category: The Code (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Post-Season/Series 01, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26835442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: Abe gets injured trying to protect Harper from serious harm. She reacts to it exactly as he'd expected she would.
Relationships: John "Abe" Abraham & Harper Li, John "Abe" Abraham/Harper Li
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	protect the people (that are precious to you)

**Author's Note:**

> "However, no matter which road you end up taking, remember to protect the people who are precious to you." - Naruto

“Look, Harper, I understand you’re upset with me…”

“Oh, really?” Harper muttered, leveling him with an incensed glare. She slowly pulled the bloodstained kitchen towel away from his forehead, eyeing him critically before shrugging in defeat. “Well, bleeding’s stopped. Mostly.”

“Thank you,” Abe replied drily. “That’s… comforting. Now, will you _please_ stop looking at me like I’m an idiot?” He knew, even before he uttered the words, that his plea would fall on deaf ears.

She scoffed humorlessly, ripping open a package of antiseptic wipes she’d retrieved from their first-aid kit. “Sure I will, the second you _stop being an idiot_.” She began cleaning the wound on his forehead with a gentleness one wouldn’t expect from a woman so obviously infuriated. “Honestly, Abe, what even _was_ that? Do you have some death wish I’m unaware of, is that it?”

“I’m not _suicidal,_ Harper.” His tone suggested he thought she was ridiculous for even considering that as a viable explanation for his behavior.

“You _jumped in front of a man wielding a knife_ , John,” she reminded him pointedly. “That isn’t really the sort of thing a person does for no reason. Until you give me an actual, _legitimate_ reason, I’m going to be forced to assume it’s just that you’re an idiot. If you don’t stop pulling away from me, _right now_ , there is a good chance you’ll end up with this bandage in your hair instead of on your forehead.”

He froze in place, as directed, then heaved a great sigh, staring up at her with pleading eyes. “Thank you. For not leaving me to bleed out.”

She huffed at that. “It’s a head wound, Abraham. They bleed, a _lot_ , but it’s superficial. You’re going to be fine. You would’ve been fine without me, too.”

“I don’t see it that way.” He sighed when she looked away, refusing to meet his gaze. “I’m not going to apologize for keeping you from getting hurt, Harper. So, if that’s what you’re waiting for, I’m sorry, but you’re going to be waiting a long time.”

“I know how to handle myself, Abe,” she fired back angrily. “I have the same training as you. I could’ve taken him if you’d just given me the _chance_.”

“He pulled the knife while your back was to him, Harper,” the captain reminded her calmly, staring at an undefined point over her left shoulder. “You didn’t see him coming. You couldn’t have. You’re right; you could’ve taken him on, and you could’ve won. Absolutely. _If_ you’d been able to see him coming. But you couldn’t. I _could._ I had an opportunity to stop him from stabbing you, and I took it. I got a minor cut from the struggle, that’s true. It was worth it, though.” He sighed, meeting her gaze once more. His eyes were so serious that she very nearly had to do a doubletake. “I understand you’re upset, Harper. I might even understand _why_ you’re upset. But let’s not pretend you wouldn’t have done the same thing, had things been reversed.”

She fell silent for several seconds. When she spoke again, her voice was smaller than he’d ever heard it. “I’m tired of people getting hurt because of me.”

“Ah.” He studied her for a moment, his gaze somehow managing to be simultaneously sympathetic and empathetic. “People don’t get hurt because of you, Harper. What happens in the field, it isn’t your fault. What happened out there, today, it _wasn’t your fault_. You’ve got to stop blaming yourself for it.”

She met his gaze briefly, then nodded once, though she remained so obviously unconvinced of what he was saying that it would have been almost comical in nearly any other situation. “Hey, look. I know you didn’t want to let a medic check you out at the scene, but he got you pretty good. I mean, are you _sure_ you don’t want me to drive you to the hospital, just to make sure everything’s alright?”

“It’s a cut, Harper. A superficial one,” he said, using her earlier statement against her. “Didn’t even need stitches. There’s no need for me to waste a doctor’s time and resources on this, not when I know exactly what they’ll say.”

“Alright,” she acquiesced hesitantly. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” Abe promised, flashing a genuine smile as he leaned back in his chair, staring over at her as she disposed of the remnants of his bandages and the other materials she’d used to sanitize his wound. “NCIS get their man?” he questioned, nodding toward her phone. The device had gone off several times during their ride back to Quantico, but neither of them had bothered to so much as glance at it.

She nodded. “Took them all of fifteen minutes.”

“Huh. That’s about fourteen minutes longer than it would’ve taken me.” He delighted in her eyeroll, if only because it allowed him a glimpse of the woman she typically was, under all those layers of worry and anger. “Well, if anything, he just helped us improve our case.”

“Only you would see almost being stabbed through the eye as a positive,” Harper muttered, heaving a long-suffering sigh as she lifted her coffee mug to her lips and took a sip, wrinkling her nose in distaste as the lukewarm liquid hit the back of her throat.

He shrugged. “I like to take my victories where I can get them.”

She scoffed a laugh at that, nodding in agreement. “I get that. Seriously, though, Abe. Next time an NCIS agent personally calls us and tells us to wait for them…”

“I thought they were overreacting!” he interjected petulantly.

“…we are going to _wait for them_ ,” she enunciated, shooting a pointed glower his way. “ _Aren’t_ we?”

“Scout’s always trying to prove she’s better than us, I thought it was just another of her…” He trailed off, nodding in begrudging agreement after several seconds’ worth of hesitation. “Sure,” he acquiesced. “I’ll, _we’ll,_ wait for the calvary, if we’re ever in this situation again.”

“ _Thank you_. That’s all I’m asking for.”

“ _Today_ ,” he muttered under his breath, flashing a teasing grin in direct contradiction to her unamused grimace. “Hey. It’s almost COB. You, uh, you want to drop by Sam’s for a while, have a round or two?”

“That depends,” she said primly. “Do you promise not to start a bar fight?”

“I’ve never started a…” He shook his head. “You know what? Sure. I promise not to start a bar fight.”

“Alright. First round is on me,” she said mildly, rolling her eyes at his surprised expression. “You _did_ almost lose an eye for me, Abe. A Scotch or two in repayment is quite literally the least I can do.”

“Okay,” he agreed slowly, still staring at her. “I’m ordering top-shelf tonight, then.”

She smiled exasperatedly, yet with a fondness she was unable to hide. “Yes, well,” she sighed, reaching across the desk to grab a ballpoint pen from the cup in front of him, “I’d expect nothing less.”


End file.
